1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to aircraft which are adaptable to propulsion by human operators or small combustion engines.
2. Prior Art
Mankind has long been searching for a structure which will enable him to fly through the air unassisted by chemical or gaseous agents other than his own muscular power. Myriad contraptions for effecting such flight date back to Leonardo DaVinci. However, interest in such machines rapidly subsided after the success of the Wright Brothers in the early part of the twentieth century upon the advent of reliable, lightweight internal combustion engines. Early attempts at achieving man-powered flight have generally involved helicopter-type machines having large whirling blades for vertical ascent. As is now well known to those skilled in the art helicopters consume substantially greater power to sustain themselves in flight than do fixed wing aircraft of similar weight and speed. However, propulsive means for low-speed, fixed-wing flight have not been available, nor have they been developed as interest in man-powered flight has generally abated entirely.
The Royal Aeronautical Society of London has now established the Kremer Competition for design and demonstration of a man-powered flying machine, to renew interest in this field. The Kremer Competition requires that a heavier-than-air machine powered and controlled by the crew of the machine without energy storage shall take off over level ground in still air and fly a figure 8 course at least a half mile across. Ground clearance of 10 feet above the ground must be maintained at start and finish of the flight. The machine of the present invention has been designed to be flown in the Kremer Competition.